Smelkinson’s Trey Gives St. Mary’s (Md.) 77-76 Win over Salisbury

Behind junior guard Mike Smelkinson’s (Elkridge, MD/Long Reach) three-pointer with 26 seconds left and a free throw by sophomore center Alex Irmer (Alexandria, VA/Wakefield) with five ticks on the clock to ice the game, the St. Mary’s (Md.) College men’s basketball team accomplished something that no other Capital Athletic Conference had done yet – beat Salisbury University. 

The Seahawks collected a 77-76 victory over Salisbury on Saturday afternoon and earned their first conference win of the season.

St. Mary’s (6-7, 1-4 CAC) will travel to Washington, D.C. on January 17 to face Gallaudet University in league play at 8:00, while the Sea Gulls (9-5, 4-1) will host Catholic University on Wednesday at 7:30.

Sophomore forward Calvin Wise’s (Bel Air, MD/Calvert Hall) lay-up knotted the game for the sixth time in the second half at 73-73 with 1:15 left.  The Seahawks then capitalized on a Salisbury turnover allowing Smelkinson to connect on the key long bomb at 0:26.  St. Mary’s shot 55.2% in the second half en route to their come-from-behind win.

The Sea Gulls needing to stop the clock, Irmer was fouled and he made the first of his two free throws with 5.5 on the clock.  Sophomore forward Ozi Menakaya (Largo, MD/Capital Christian) grabbed the rebound and dished it off to senior guard Ray Williams (Hanover, MD/Meade) who landed a trey as time expired.

Irmer finished the game with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Smelkinson added 18 points and fired in four three-pointers in only his second start of the season.  Junior guard Tyson Lesesne (Edgewood, MD/Edgewood) chipped in 16 and was 4-of-4 from the line.

Salisbury took control of the game early as the Sea Gulls ran away from the Seahawks to post a 31-17 lead at the 8:36 mark but a 21-9 run by St. Mary’s cut the Salisbury lead to two with 50 seconds left till halftime.  Following two missed Seahawk jumpers, the Sea Gulls carried their 40-38 lead into the locker room.

Irmer led all players with 15 points in the first half, while Salisbury’s leading scorer was senior guard Ray Williams (Hanover, MD/Meade) recorded 13 as the Sea Gulls made 50% of their shots.  St. Mary’s wasn’t far behind, shooting 48.4% from the floor.

Williams went on to end the afternoon with a game-high 31 points, while Menakaya recorded a double-double on 10 points and a game-high 11 boards.  Senior guard Segun Odumeru (Riverdale, MD/Parkdale) pitched in a dozen points and picked up a pair of blocks.